


Minerva Bears a Shield of Bronze

by kaulayau



Series: Bright Red/Silver Dust (Last Words of a Shooting Star) [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, FREE FALLIN', I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 09:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaulayau/pseuds/kaulayau
Summary: And I was always so disappointed.





	Minerva Bears a Shield of Bronze

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope she comes back!! Thanks for reading.

“ _This isn’t love_.” But how can she know? 

Her father — no, not her — _Thanos_ , Thanos the Mad Titan, _not_ her father, or — or he _is_ , and still —

He grabs her by the arm, with violent urgency, with unbridled strength, and her wrist aches as she pulls away — it’s just like the time when she was just a girl — she thinks she’s screaming, _screaming_ — 

She doesn’t like being afraid. Fear doesn’t align with the fiercest women in the galaxy. It doesn’t fit right in her palms, doesn’t sit well in her stomach, and yet — when she tastes it, it’s surprisingly — sweet. It tastes more familiar than she thought it would. It tastes like _Hooked on a Feeling, I Want You Back, Mr. Blue Sky,_ all of Peter’s terrible, beautiful songs that everyone loves to hate —

Peter. Peter, she feels the sky. Peter, Peter — is this how he feels, when he flies? Is she touching the stars, as he does? She never flies with the spirit he has. She never flies. She’s never had that _feeling_ before. Is this —

Love. _Love?_ Oh, that’s what it is, right? That’s what she told him. It’s there, carrying her, down and down, there when she thinks of — her mother, and her memory. There when she thinks of her _friends_ , and their laughter. There when she thinks of her _sister_ , and her smile. When she thinks of —

Not him. _Not_ him — he _threw her away_ —

Even after all this time, all this error, all this _struggle_ , does she truly know what love — is? Love is an embrace. Or it isn’t. Love is a spoken word. Or it isn’t. Love is an action. Or it isn’t. Love is a _kiss_  — or it isn’t.

Is love a feeling? Then how strong is it? How strong does it have to be? How strong does she have to be to earn it? Has anyone ever loved her? _Who_ can love her? How? She has never deserved it. Never, never —

But — it’s there. It’s there, manifested in ways she doesn’t understand — in ways no one understands. Drax and fighting. Rocket and war. Groot and healing. Mantis and the world. Nebula and survival. Peter and the sky. Drax and his family. Rocket and Groot. Mantis and Drax. Nebula and… Peter and… All of them, all of them, and —

That’s — what she said, wasn’t it? That’s what she _said_.

It scares her more than anything. Love.

Oh, the sky. Peter, Nebula, _everyone_ , the _sky_.


End file.
